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A View From Within: The voices of Netanyans on their Jewish State – Israel

Identification of Research Area

The proposed project will explore the views, perspectives and experiences of secular and
religious Jews in Netanya. Since the creation of Israel as the “Jewish State” in 1948, there has
been a significant amount of turmoil, both internal and external, that has affected the daily lives
of its people. Aside from various conflicts and wars over the land, there have also been
significant and dramatic shifts in the country’s ideology, which can be linked to the land disputes
and the relationship with the opponents involved. The changes in ideology can be analysed with
different contexts, such as political, cultural, and national identity. Much debate has been
generated regarding these contexts from a broad, academic stance and even more has been
written on the effects and plights of Israel’s minorities. However, there is a void in published
writings when it comes to understanding the predominance of Israelis, the secular and religious
Jews. While it is important to study minority groups to ensure their voices are heard in amongst
the masses, it is also necessary to understand the majority’s viewpoint as it will, most likely,
shape the future and this future, in turn, will impact on the whole society. Dershowitz (2006, p.
11) has proclaimed, “Israel is the Jewish state and the “Jew” among the states of the world”.
With the ongoing tensions in the Middle East in conjunction with the acrimonious milieu of
discourse in the Jewish world, this contemporary issue requires immediate attention. The first
step in confronting this difficult situation should be to redress the balance of understanding so it
includes arguments on both sides. This research will make the missing half available.

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Research Objectives

The main goal of the research is to explore Jewish Israelis’ perceptions of the past, present and
future of Israel in light of changes in ideology. From being founded on Zionist ideals, to radical
shits in the “Post-Zionist Decade” (Pappé, 2008) and the subsequent return to Zionism following
the Second Intifada, it is believed these changes will have impacted on the everyday lives of the
Jews. This is the basis of the main research question:In what ways have these ideological changes affected Jewish Israelis?
In addition, to support the aim of contributing a valuable understanding of this missing
perspective, it is beneficial to discover the ambitions, goals and hopes of these people. Therefore,
the second research question is:What do the Jews of Israel envision for their future and for Israel's future?
Finally, it is hoped that the research will help to dispel some of the common myths, stereotypes
and misunderstandings regarding the Jews of Israel. Some might imagine that all Jews are
religious, while others may assume they are a unified group whose views and beliefs are
unanimous. Thus the research aims to prompt alternative conceptual paradigms in which to
consider Jewish Israelis.

Review of Sources

Large amounts of literature have been written on Jews and on Israel. It covers issues from a
personal account of travel in the 1930s to present day debates on the feasibility of democracy
and nationalism. The wide range of the literature is mostly written in a very generalized manner.

The Past

History of Jews:

The history of the Jewish people has been fraught with conflicts, struggles and hardship. Despite
numerous invasions, evacuations and spreading Jews throughout many other countries, Navon
(2008, p. 65) argues the Jews were the only constant inhabitants of the land since the destruction
of the second Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE. In 1919, Prince Feisal (leader of the Arab
delegation at Versailles) wrote the Zionist proposition submitted to the Peace Conference was
“moderate and amenable …we extend the most cordial welcome to the Jews in their home”
(Navon, 2008, p. 70).

In spite of this, Arabs have claimed the Jews who immigrated from 1882 onwards took over a
“well-establish, populated and fertile country” (Navon, 2008, p. 67). It has been shown this claim
is false through various accounts that describe the region as empty and the land barren and
inhospitable (Navon, 2008; Bregman, 2003; Bloomfield, 1950).

Navon (2008) suggests the major troubles with Arabs began after 1921 when the British
appointed Hadj Amin al-Husseini as the Mufti of Jerusalem. This had grave repercussions for the
Jews as Al-Husseini made the rejection of Jewish self-determination into a religious mission and
the murder of Jews a “legitimate and praiseworthy act” (Navon, 2008, p. 71; Blumberg, 1998).
This led to the Hebron massacre of 1929 (Blumberg, 1998). The British also consented to
demands to reduce the quota of Jewish immigration, which had damning consequences during
the Holocaust (Navon, 2008; Blumberg, 1998).

After WWII, the UN proposed the Partition Act of 1947 to create an Arab Palestinian state but
the Arabs rejected it and began war to exterminate the Jews. In 1949, the Arabs were defeated
but this dispute arose again in 1967 and 1973.

Zionist Movement & the Founding of Israel:

According to Bregman (2003), modern Israel began in 1897 with the 1st World Zionist Congress.
The 197 Jewish delegates created the “Basle Programme” and Theodore Herzl was the convenor
of Basle congresses (Bregman, 2003). Herzl was a key figure in the Zionist Movement, which
ultimately led to the founding of Israel. The aim of Zionism was to establish the state of Israel so
Jews could be free people on their own land thus allowing their creative genius and their culture
to flourish fully and to achieve recognition by the international community (Navon, 2008;
Cohen, 1995).

Following Israel’s Independence in 1948, Zionism used myth in the nation-building process,
which helped overcome two basic dilemmas for Western Jews (Cohen, 1995). First, it separated
political liberation from religious salvation and in doing so appeased religious Jews who
demanded the postponement of national liberation until the time of divine redemption. Secondly,
it separated the ideology of Zionist immigration and settlement in the land of Israel from colonial
settlement enterprises of Western nations. In building the nation, leaders emphasised gathering
the exiled, building Zion as a model society, and creating a new “Jewish” type (Cohen, 1995;
Wistrich & Ohana, 1995).

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Since its inception, debates have existed regarding the Israeli state being both Jewish and
democratic. Those against a Jewish state, such as Hermann Cohen and Hans Kohn, claimed it
could not be a ‘light among nations’ and wield power because it would bring corruption, destroy
the Jews’ state of moral purity and prevent the Jews from achieving their destiny (Hazony, 2005;
Navon, 2008). However, the opposing view argues a Jewish state is necessary because, when
spread about as minorities, the Jewish people can never fully achieve political and social equality
(Hazony, 2005). Further, as minorities, the Jews are subject to a dichotomy between being
Jewish and trying to “fit in” to their host society enough to succeed (Hazony, 2005). Navon
(2008) has reasoned Israel is Jewish and democratic by stressing there are Arabs who hold
democratically elected seats in parliament and who sit in courts independent of the executive.

The “Post-Zionist Decade”:

Pappé (2008) referred to the 1990s as “The Post-Zionist Decade” as it was during these years
that revisionism and post-Zionist thought was at its peak. The major shift away from Zionism
took shape in many forms but stemmed from the academics that challenged the status quo. The
quotes below indicate just how radical thought was in the years preceding and during this time.

“… establishment cultural figures are paving the way to the ruin of all Herzl and other
Zionists sought to achieve” (Hazony, 2005, p. xxvii)
“…nothing, it would seem, is sacred anymore” (Wistrich & Ohana, 1995, p. viii)

Post-Zionist Revisionism and the IDF

One of the most controversial areas changed by this shift was in the training manuals and general
behaviour codes of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF). The new version, created by Asa Kasher, is
void of any Jewish or Zionist content (Hazony, 2000). These changes also led to all military
operations being reduced solely to the preservation of State, Citizens and Principles of
Democracy. According to Hazony (2000), the initial purpose of the IDF was to serve and protect
the Jewish people and Israel’s character as the Jewish people’s state. Hazony (2000) argues the
new codes omit the Jewish people, land of Israel and Jewish national values and they contradict
some of the most rudimentary Zionist principles, such as loyalty to Jewish refugees and “love of
the land” (ahavat ha’aretz). In the past, operations have been carried out on behalf of Diasporaic
Jews, but the new edition, by omitting so much, does not allow for this (Hazony, 2000). Kasher
has defended his version by claiming it removes dilemmas so there is no “need to think of
philosophize” (Kasher, quoted in Hazony, 2000).

Post-Zionist Revisionism and History

Historical revisionism began with the revisiting of the 1948 war. Before this, most historians
avoided the period in an apparent attempt to maintain the status quo (Pappé, 2008; Wistrich &
Ohana, 1995). By analysing the war from both sides, the resulting portrayal was very different to
what existed in the educational system, culture and academia (Pappé, 2008). One key myth
challenged was the belief that over half a million Palestinian Arabs voluntarily fled rather than
being expelled by force (Wistrich & Ohana, 1995). Pappé (2008) claims that in addition to the
influences of the changing ideology, revisionists used declassified information that became
available from Israel, the USA and the UK.

Beyond the 1948 war, historians began “de-Zionizing” other periods. Sociologists confronted
“the melting pot” issue of the 1950s and literary writers, such as Tom Segev, addressed the
Holocaust (Pappé, 2008).

Post-Zionist Revisionism and Culture

Two factors that impacted on public debate and popular cultural trends were the 1983 Lebanon
War and the Oslo ‘peace process’ of the 1990s (Pappé, 2008; Stein & Swedenburg, 2005). These
two events emboldened a variety of writers, filmmakers, musicians, artists and journalists to
devise a non-Zionist explanation of real life (Pappé, 2008). Cultural changes have also been
attributed to the massive influx of Russian immigrants and an increasing population of third
world workers who introduced new music, sports and culinary traditions (Stein & Swedenburg,
2005). During this period, works appeared that strongly contradicted the self-image and
collective memory of the Israeli public and, in criticizing the sacred truisms of Zionism,
questioned its validity (Pappé, 2008).

Literature of this decade exhibits the change in attitudes of various cultural agencies. Poetry
included radical ideas, the lyrics of musicians, such as Aviv Gefen, was highly critical of Israeli
militarism and some Jewish Hebrew writers, for instance Shimon Balas and Sami Michael,
composed counter narratives (Pappé, 2008). Yitzhak Laor’s The People, Food fit for a King was
a direct attempt to create a ‘counter-narrative’ through names, language and the evolution of the
plot and in it, Laor questions every basic truism in Israeli society (Pappé, 2008).

Radicalization in the film industry, which had a previous history of largely “phobic” cinematic
engagements with Palestinian Arab culture, lead to feature films and documentaries that
critically reassessed the founding myths of Zionism (Stein & Swedenburg, 2005). Pappé asserts
that Arabs had previously been depicted as “dirty, stupid, pathetic, evil, cruel and gave in to
superior Israeli hero” (2008, p. 106). After the ideological changes, cinema began to portray the
geographic marginality of Arab and Shepardic Jews with some films even placing them within
the role of the hero (Pappé, 2008).

The media, in general, was less influenced by the shifting attitudes, which might be due to news
being uniformly nationalist. Although the news does include some Palestinian views, it is
presented with the discernible preference for the Jewish version (Pappé, 2008). Arabs are
referred to as Beni Miutim (members of the minority groups) thus disregarding their national
identity (Pappé, 2008). Through talk shows and supplements of some newspapers, the wider
public became aware of the academic debates (Pappé, 2008) but overall, the media, subject to
military censor, did not change as radically as other forms of popular culture of the era.

Post-Zionist Revisionism and Academia

Hazony has commented on these being “sweeping changes … effected by a handful of
intellectuals” (2000, p. 52). Others perceive the academic challenge is not only to question
established ‘truths’ but also to examine how these ‘truths’ have been constructed and portrayed
(Pappé, 2008). The challenge, as previously mentioned, began with the rewriting of the 1948
war. Previous works had been exclusive to Zionist history at universities so the terminology was
carefully constructed, the victory described as miraculous and due to David Ben-Gurion’s
ingenuity along with the soldiers’ heroism (Pappé, 2008). New projects seriously reassessed the
foundational myths of Zionism and state building that was long hegemonic in Israelis
historiography and popular discourse (Stein & Swedenburg, 2005). It was argued that
Palestinians of 1948 had been effectively erased from academia and were depicted as terrorists or
pawns of the all-Arab conspiracy to annihilate the Jewish state and Pappé (2008) claims this was
done to uphold the Zionist narrative of miracle and heroism.

Following the 1st Intifada, revisionist literature increased leading to scholars in the US to critique
Zionist history and ideology. Gradually, this expanded beyond questions of nationalist conflict
and occupation to explore gender, citizenship and minoritorian struggles within Israel (Stein &
Swedenburg, 2005). The Oslo Accords of 1993 advanced the academic epistemic shift and
revisionism increased in scope and acceptability. Under the Rabbi-Perez administration (1992-
1996), works of radical scholars were in newspapers and on state run television (REF). This
further accelerated re-thinking of state-sponsored historical textbooks and curriculum.
As a result, many important figures became the subject of this radical reassessment. Theodore
Herzl, previously held in high esteem, was reduced to being considered a highly narcissistic,
conflict-ridden, neurotic personality (Wistrich & Ohana, 1995). David Ben-Gurion had been
regarded as ingenious and responsible for the victory in 1948 was accused of inactivity and
indifference during the Holocaust and squandering opportunities to achieve peace with
surrounding Arab states (Wistrich & Ohana, 1995).

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Following the 2nd Intifada of 2000, the ideology of the state, academics and society as a whole
reverted, seemingly overnight, back to the Zionist principles that the Jewish state was founded
upon (Pappé, 2008). Israel re-entered ‘conflict mode’ and society was rife with a fear that
diminished previous rituals and sites of consumption (Stein & Swedenburg, 2005). US styled
shopping malls became the loci of middle class consumption and leisure and considered to be
“safe havens from terror” (Stein & Swedenburg, 2005). The popularity of “Arab” culture that
existed in the 1990s was eclipsed by rising anti-Arab phobia and racism and by the “nostalgic
return to canonical Zionist cultural practices” (Stein & Swedenburg, 2005, p. 13).

A new “discourse of unity” was established, which made it clear that “Post-Zionism” was no
longer accepted (Pappé, 2008). Academics and societal “elites” who had been the forerunners of
the Post-Zionist decade rapidly sought to assert their allegiance to Zionism (Pappé, 2008; Stein
& Swedenburg, 2005). Pappé (2008) highlights several examples of this new tendency. First, a
report by Interdisciplinary University of Harzeliya set a national agenda to transfer Palestinians
from Israel if they double their share of the population (from 20% to 40%), (Pappé, 2008). Next,
the Minister of Education demanded the removal of all textbooks that contained even the
slightest influence of Post-Zionist scholarship (Pappé, 2008). Finally, leading members of the
coalition in the Knesset called for the expulsion of Post-Zionist scholars from the universities
(Pappé, 2008).

Conclusion

The literature discussed indicates the benefits of a multi-disciplinary approach. Whilst the
dominating discipline of the project is anthropological, some aspects of the data will be best
viewed from a historical or sociological perspective. The reviewed literature also touches on
various “grand theories” but it is unclear at this stage exactly which theory will be the most
suitable. Some arguments can lead to an indication of a Neo-Marxist approach where, if found in
the data, over-arching Zionist and Post-Zionist ideologies could be considered hegemonic.

However, other arguments seem to lean towards a post-structuralist method, which, if revealed
by data, would support a societal framework that explains these changes in ideologies and
generates evidence to show how society benefited.

Methodology

It is necessary to formulate a research strategy in advance, however, it should not be overly rigid.
A good design will allow for flexibility, both in the field and during analysis, to account for
recent developments, and unanticipated observations (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005). An amount of
freedom can also allow the project to naturally develop complexity and sophistication (Denzin &
Lincoln, 2005).

Research Design

In order to obtain a holistic view with in-depth understanding, this research uses triangulation
since no one method can comprehend all the subtle differences of individual’s experiences.
Mixed methods should add accuracy and thickness to generate data full of a range of insights.
There are two stages to the research plan.

Stage 1 – Interviews & Observations

A total of twelve (12) narrative, semi-structured interviews are proposed which will be recorded
(wherever possible) along with written notes taken. These will be held with religious and secular
Jews representing different economic and social statuses and thus will cover a cross-section of
the population.

Interviews are the most beneficial method for this study for several reasons. They:

Allow respondents to express themselves without limitations and clarify situations where
their views may differ (Denscombe, 2007; Gray, 2004).

Enable the researcher to clarify statements made by respondents to ensure the information
gathered is accurate (Denscombe, 2007; Gray, 2004).

In addition to interviews, opportunities for informal encounters and casual conversation will be
sought out. These will provide additional data in more relaxed settings. Unfortunately, due to the
nature of these encounters, recording will not be an option. Therefore, notes will need to be
written post hoc which may result in less reliant or incomplete data.

Stage 2 - Surveys

The second stage will procure quantitative data through closed-question surveys containing
questions about common issues, difficulties and solutions that arose in previous stages. One
hundred paper surveys will be distributed, with a predicted return of 50%.

Sampling

Participants will be recruited using purposive sampling.

Surveys will be distributed to participants through snowballing.

Data Collection Procedures

Narrative interviews will be conducted in respondent’s home, office or within a public place
convenient for the respondent. Prior to conducting the interview, respondents will be briefed
about the research project, given assurances of confidentiality and anonymity, provided with an
opportunity to ask any questions or air any concerns, then asked to sign an informed consent
form. The right to withdraw from the project at any time will be emphasised.

Surveys will have a project brief and confidentiality statement included. The statement will make
it clear that by answering the survey, the respondent is giving permission for the data to be used
in the research project.

Data Analysis

Initially, interview data will be coded and compared then used to generate survey questions. This
data will also be used at a later stage when reporting findings.

All surveys will be designed using a 5-point Likert scale and will be coded and analysed using
SPSS.

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In total this stage has been assessed at requiring nine weeks. Data collection will occur during
four weeks of fieldwork in Israel. Each interview will last between sixty and ninety minutes and
observations will be made throughout.

Stage 2 – Surveys

Survey creation, distribution and collection have been considered to require a period of four
weeks in total.

Anticipated Problems

If for any reason not all interviews can be conducted in the field, a back-up plan exists involving
Internet interviews. While this method can have inherent problems regarding meanings of words
and/or sentences, this can be reduced by using specific wording in the questions being asked and
by clarifying each answer to ensure a full understanding.

Access

Access has been arranged through a contact in Netanya who will act as gatekeeper. As a resident
of Netanya, fellow academic and long-term personal friend, this source is highly reliable. Prior to
my arrival in Netanya, interviews will be pre-arranged and opportunities will be organized to
meet and socialize with other Jewish residents. Accommodation arrangements will provide
exposure to different environments and opportunities for varied, close-contact observations.
A snowballing method will be utilized to access participants for Stage 2. In addition, during time
in the field, organizations will be contacted to seek assistance in distributing and collecting
surveys.

Ethics

All interviews, conversations and contact for the project will be conducted solely with
individuals between the ages of 30 and 60 years old. This means a CRB check is not necessary.
Investigating Jewish identity and nationalism raises ethical concerns, due to the sensitive nature
surrounding such a personal issue. People tend to feel very strongly about their beliefs and
customs. It is therefore vital to bear this in mind at all times; being sensitive and respectful to
potential participants. This is essential in conducting the research, as some may take offence if
questions are not worded in accordance to the participant’s religious and cultural views. In order
to minimize potential offence, through wording during interviews and in questionnaires, the
project’s two gatekeepers will vet all questions. Wheatley (cited in Denzin & Lincoln, 2005)
warns that a researcher can never resolve all ethical dilemmas that arise.

In an effort to minimize ethical issues, the project will strictly adhere to ASA ethical guidelines.

Stein, R. L. and Swedenburg, T. (eds.) (2005) Palestine, Israel and the Politics of Popular
Culture, Durham and London: Duke University Press.

Sztokman, E. M. (2008) ‘War, terror, girls and God: the construction of the religious Zionist
female citizen in a state religious junior high school in Israel, 1999-2002’, British Journal of
Religious Education, vol. 30 (2), pp. 155-164.

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